White House Author

From 1966 until 1978 Dave Norris served as Associate Professor of Economics at University of Louisiana at Monroe. In 1978, he was elected Mayor of the City of West Monroe, LA, and continues to serve in that position. Norris helped ensure a clean and sustainable water source for his city of 13,000 residents and surrounding communities. The Sparta aquifer which is a major source of fresh water was at risk with rapidly declining levels in their water wells. With the aid of local, state and federal stimulus funding for innovation techniques, the city of West Monroe and their engineering firm, Energy Ventures Analysis, they were able to develop a process that converted water from their wastewater treatment plant into water that meets the applicable EPA standards. They designed and just recently completed construction of a recycle plant that has the capacity to recycle up to 10 million gallons per day of effluent from their wastewater treatment plant into water. Under Norris’ leadership and through his work with their local industry, they have found a cost-effective method to protect both jobs and the environment.